The Final Redemption by Michael Manning (novels in english .TXT) 📗

my mind struggled tokeep up with current events. My opponent had attacked with inhumanspeed, and within a split second altered his strategy to accountfor my plate armor. If I had been human, or even another Knight ofStone, I would have already been dead. Thankfully, I’m no longer human, Inoted with a sense of irony. It was probably the first time I hadever been grateful for the fact.

My own speed and reflexeswere much greater now, not that I had much skill in using them. Imanaged to grab the defender’s wrist, locking his arm, and thesword it held, safely in place. A blade through my chest wasn’treally much of a problem for me. Having my armor removed and mybody cut into sections; thatwould have been a problem. I grinned inside myhelm as I finally realized which of my knights was working soefficiently to destroy me.

“Cyhan!” I greeted him, even as I heldhis arm still. My own strength was now greater than his, and for asplit second I entertained the notion that I might have a chance toexplain my situation to him.

I hadn’t factored in the man’s uncannytenacity, or his ability to react near instantly to changing battleconditions. He said a word while gripping the sword tightly, not inan effort to remove it from my chest, but to keep it in place asthe Sun-Sword’s fire erupted within me.

The world exploded for a moment as theflames raged through the inside of my armor, shooting outward fromthe joints and even filling my helm. Chaos and pain assailed mebefore I finally found my balance. The fire was channeled throughan enchantment, so I wasn’t able to absorb or control it, but thatscarcely mattered. I was power incarnate now. My ravaged fleshhealed more quickly than the fire could burn, and where the twocontested, light spilled from my wounds like liquidgold.

I laughed madly, a feeling of nearinsanity creeping over me as I realized my initial fear had beenpointless. Cyhan never relented in his attack, and I admired hisdetermination. The realization that his best effort was havinglittle to no effect had to be unsettling, yet he never stopped ortried to escape. Even a man as conditioned to battle as he was, hadto be experiencing fear now.

Rising I kept his sword hand firmly inmy grip while I used my other hand to lift him bodily, until he wasnearly above my head. It was a shame I had to kill him. My face waslocked in a rictus grin inside my helm, and despite the thought, Iwas filled with an exhilarating sense of power. I would crushhim.

With a casual pull I jerked his armfree from the sword, and I felt one of the bones in his forearmsnap at the sudden violence. Then I lifted him completely,preparing to drive him headfirst into the stone wall. His armorcould protect him from almost anything, but I knew I had thestrength to break it. I had the power to do almost anything. He wasbattering at me now, struggling to tear himself free, but even withhis earth-bond his blows were futile. With his feet off the ground,he had no leverage, and my own power had blossomed around me,anchoring me in place.

I surged forward, my power driving melike some terrible juggernaut. It was time to end it.

No!

The voice was a mental scream,emerging from somewhere deep within. It sounded like my own, but Iknew it wasn’t me. It came from the dark core that resided at mycenter. The timing caused me to hesitate at the last instant,robbing my charge of some of its power. Even so, Cyhan was driveninto the wall with incredible force, and the point of impact was athis shoulder instead of his head. One of his pauldrons cracked, andthe wall itself collapsed. I released his now limp body and stareddown at it.

He was probably dead, and for a momentI couldn’t have cared less.

I have to check! Thisisn’t the sort of man I am, dead or not.

My inner-self was getting to be ratherirritating, but I had to agree. My behavior was not normal. I hadnever been so ruthless, so uncaring. I made my helm permeable toaythar, improving my magesight so that I could see him properlywith all of my senses. His heart was beating, though he wasunconscious, probably a concussion, definitely a broken collarbone, broken forearm, dislocated hip, and a variety ofbruises…

“Or in Cyhan’s terminology,‘Tuesday’,” I noted dryly. The comment surprised me and I began tochuckle. It was too bad my friend wasn’t conscious to appreciatethe humor. It was one of the few jokes he might have connectedwith.

Although the jest wasthoroughly inappropriate and probably showed a lack of empathy, itwas much more in keeping with my normal demeanor.Maybe I haven’t gone completely madyet.

“Sorry about the injuries old friend,”I said aloud. “Nothing personal.” Then I picked my way through therubble and out of the room. I had a lot to accomplish, and I wasn’tentirely certain how I would manage everything.

My magesight, nowunimpeded by the helm, had already told me that the house wasempty, except for the unconscious body of my friend.There’s a relief. Maybe I can avoid killing ormaiming anymore people from my former life.

Rather than waste time, I headeddirectly for my goal, the chamber below the house, whereLyralliantha lay. She was the key to both of my problems,fulfilling Illeniel’s Promise and putting a stop to Mal’goroth. Asthe last remaining She’Har, I hoped she would have the knowledgenecessary to bring Mal’goroth to heel. My extensive memories hadconfirmed that the Dark Gods had been created, in a very similarfashion to the Shining Gods, but I still could not find theknowledge that would show me how to control them.

Even if I did, it might be impossiblefor me to use it. While the Shining Gods were created using aspecial enchantment, the Dark Gods had been constructed around atype of spell-weaving, one very similar to the one that now kept mealive. No human had ever been able to use their magic, although ithad been the inspiration for the human art ofenchanting.

I needed Lyralliantha to stopMal’goroth. I could only hope that she wasn’t too